101 Advanced Ways To Get Your First Copywriting Client

Are you a freelance copywriter trying to figure out how to get your first copywriting client?

Besides being able to write copy, the ability to get clients and new assignments is the most important skill a freelance copywriter can develop. You can’t grow your copywriting business without paying clients.

This is a problem that every freelance copywriter has run into at some point in their career.

Too many writers put all their eggs in a few baskets when it comes to finding new opportunities. If you’re reading this article, it may even describe you.

You may have had early success with a particular strategy like certain job boards. After that, you relied too heavily on it and didn’t develop other ways to get clients.

It could be that you are an established copywriter, but you depend too much on current clients to bring new assignments to you.

You might be a new brand new copywriter that just can’t get that first client – no matter what you do.

Whatever the case may be, there’s a good chance your freelance business can benefit from learning some new ways to get paying customers.

So, let’s get started. Here are 101 advanced ways to get copywriting clients.

Cult of Copy Job Board

Job boards are not always the best place for copywriters to find new clients. They tend to favor low paying clients. They also attract many writers that will work for peanuts.

That’s where the Cult of Copy Job Board is different.

It’s a copywriting job board founded by a copywriter. The people that post jobs and look for work here are experienced copywriters, online marketers, and business owners… making it a great place for you as a freelancer.

Now, it’s not for everyone…

It’s a place for direct response marketers.

So if you’re looking for SaaS or ecommerce landing page copywriting work, you’re not going to have many opportunities there.

Otherwise, it’s a great place to get started.

It’s free, you can post on anytime, and one post can reach hundreds of potential clients.

CopyMonk Job Board

Want another place to be able to get direct response copywriting clients?

Enter the Copymonk Job Board.

Like The Cult of Copy, it attracts individuals and businesses that understand what good copywriting can do to help skyrocket sales. These are the exact type of clients that you want.

Also, because the CMJB is new, it’s a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a new top quality job board.

The most disheartening thing about online job boards is realizing the hundreds of other copywriters that are competing for the same clients as you. Any offer or proposal you post can quickly get lost in the shuffle.

With the CMJB, you won’t get lost in the shuffle.

AWAI Job Board

The AWAI (American Writers & Artists Inc.) is a company that develops copywriting training material.

Their focus is helping people develop the skills to become six figure copywriters. The AWAI has helped launch the careers of many successful direct response writers.

The problem with other job boards is that not all potential clients are looking for copywriting. Some are looking for blog posts, SEO content, and other types of writing.

AWAI’s Job Board’s only focus is to connect you with companies looking for direct response copywriters.

These companies want sales material that bring in customers and they are willing to pay top dollar for writers that can create that material for them.

Reddit /r/forhire, /r/HireaWriter, /r/writersforhire/

Reddit’s slogan is that they are the “front page of the internet” and with over 230 million users it might be true.

Reddit is one of the most popular social media sites.

The site brings many different people from many different walks of life together into one big online community. Reddit is also made up of smaller niche communities called subreddits.

Thankfully, there are subreddits dedicated to helping writers like you hook-up with businesses and potential clients.

The great thing about Reddit is that users are smart, very vocal when they see something that comes off fishy, and will defend each other.

Unlike other job boards where writers fight for scraps, members of these subreddits will have no problem calling out businesses that seem like they are trying to lowball or abuse their writers.

Lumpy Mail

People expect that the only things they get in the mail are advertisements and bills.

That’s why the biggest challenges with a mail campaign is getting the receiver to open it up. If you don’t give them a reason to open your mail right away, they are likely to toss it or it gets lost with all their other mail.

You have to make your mailers so different and odd that the prospect wants to open it up out of curiosity.

The best way to do this is to put a small item inside that relates to your offer. This can be something simple like a pair of dice.

This way your package or envelope becomes “lumpy.” The person you are targeting will become very curious about your envelope or package because they can feel that there is something inside.

A lumpy mailer can’t be stacked together with other envelopes, so there is no way that it will get lost in a pile of mail.

Also, when you do a follow-up call with the prospect, they will instantly remember you by the item that you mailed to them. “Oh yeah, you’re the guy that sent me the dice.”

Send Postcards To Local Businesses

Post cards can be a cheap and effective way to market your copywriting business.

Unlike other types of mail advertisements, potential clients don’t need to open a post card to read your sales pitch.

In fact, in order for them to determine whether the post card is important or not they have to read it.

You don’t need to pack a post card full of information either.

A colorful post card with a simple and direct message along with a solid headline is all you need to get decision makers to start thinking about your services.

Shock and Awe Package

What if you could package yourself up, send it to potential clients, and wow them with all your marketing and copy knowledge?

Well, that is the idea of a shock and awe package.

The shock and awe package is a collection of your best content, materials, and sales pieces put together in one package. You want it to be so interesting and impressive that it takes their breath away when they get it in their hands.

As the name implies, you want your shock and awe package to be to be an unexpected surprise.

The prospect will be sold on your copywriting services just by how much effort you put into the package.

Advertise Yourself In An Industry Magazine

Do you want to make sure that your copywriting business will be seen by top decision makers?

Then try advertising in a trade or industry magazine.

These types of magazines are read by people that work or own businesses in a particular field or industry. They are not for casual readers, but individuals that are serious and passionate about their line of work.

Also, trade magazines usually don’t feature general audience ads.

The ads in these magazines are related to the industry it focuses on.

Best of all, many readers will actually looks through the ads to find new opportunities for their business. One of those opportunities could be your copywriting services.

Advertise Yourself In A Local Newspaper

In today’s world of being able to get instant online information, is it even worth advertising in an old-school local newspaper?

The declining number of readers is exactly why you should give your town’s paper a try.

There is lighter competition because most businesses are not thinking about buying ad space here. Your local paper may even be willing to give you deals and better bulk prices than other types of publications.

Even though reader numbers are declining, being featured in a newspaper still seems like a big deal to most people. You can use it to position yourself as an authority.

Newspaper ads are also seen as more respectable and less invasive than online ads like pop ups.

Run a Local Workshop

Running a local copywriting workshop is a great way to position yourself as an expert, educate your target prospects, and get a ton of local exposure in one go.

By running a workshop you are selling your services and yourself inadvertently by teaching.

Potential clients will be more comfortable because they are not being put into a sales situation, but instead, they are being taught in a classroom environment.

There is also a huge value in being able to meet potential clients face to face.

Setting up a workshop can take a ton of effort, but that’s a good thing.

Your competitors can send mailers and buy ads just as easily as you, but they are unlikely to put in the effort of running a workshop.

You can also use a workshop to get a story published in your local newspaper. This means your services will receive a ton of free exposure.

Sponsor A Conference/Workshop

Like I said, setting an event can take a ton of time and energy.

If you want to get all the benefits of running a conference or a workshop, but are not comfortable in your ability to run one, then do the next best thing.

You can piggy-back off someone else’s event by offering to sponsor it.

Anyone trying to run an event would gladly take your money to offset their own costs.

By sponsoring, your name and business will be mentioned in any advertising that is published for the event.

Being mentioned as a sponsor can also raise your credibility. Most people have the idea that only established and well-off businesses can afford to sponsor something.

This is another great method that many copywriters are not taking advantage of.

Send Out A Sales Letter To Businesses

The most common assignment for a copywriter is to create long form sales letters.

Copywriters can easily forget that the same thing they create to help their clients sell more products is the same thing they can use to sell their own services.

Mailing out lumpy mail packages and posts work to get new clients, but you can’t go wrong with a classic direct responses sales letter.

Copywriter Linda Formichelli was able to secure big clients like Pizzeria Uno just by mailing out letters and following up with a phone call.

Publish A Physical Book, Send It To Potential Clients

Every blogger, business, and coach has an eBook or online course that you can exchange for an email.

When everyone is going digital, you can stand out by going the opposite direction and putting out a physical book.

Publishing a book use to be hard and expensive. Today, there are dozens of companies that will help you self-publish for cheap.

Even though anyone can do it, the general public still sees being the author of a book as a big deal. It’s one of the easiest thing you can do to instantly position yourself as an expert.

Like lumpy mail, sending someone a package with a book almost guarantees that the receiver is going to open it and check it out.

Publish Special Report, Send To Potential Clients

One of the go-to methods of getting and educating new clients in the business-to-business world is to send out a special report, sometimes called white papers.

These reports can work just as well for freelance copywriters.

Special reports follow a similar format as a long form sales letter.

First, your report needs a title that grabs attention. Then, you start by addressing an issue or problem in an industry. By the end, you relate your services to the problem and explain how your services can help.

Special reports purpose is to display your knowledge and passion to potential clients.

Publish Case Study, Send To Potential Clients

Sometimes a potential client just doesn’t understand what good copywriting can do for their business.

In these situations, it is best to show them the success others have had by utilizing your services.

That’s why you should send a special report featuring case studies. Case studies show how you have helped similar business grow.

Instead of a sales pitch made of nothing but theories, you are showing them real results.

You are showing prospects real problems other businesses have faced and how your services helped them overcome those issues.

Check out this excellent guide by Kissmetrics Blog on how to create a winning case study.

Sponsor A Podcast

Podcasting is the fastest growing media channel and is still growing every year. From 2008 to 2015 the amount of Americans downloading podcasts has almost doubled.

These facts alone should get you excited about finding a podcast to sponsor.

The majority of podcast ads are presented as the host’s endorsement. This is good for you because podcast hosts are trusted and seen as experts in their industries.

There are plenty of smaller podcasts with passionate audiences that cover a variety of niches.

Because of this, you can easily find a great, up and coming podcast that will offer you a good rate to advertise your copywriting services.

Sponsor A Blog

Do you want to know an easy way to advertise on popular blogs that most copywriters don’t even consider?

It may not be something you have ever thought of doing, but you can inexpensively advertise your services by sponsoring other people’s blogs.

Your sponsorship will, most of the time, be presented as a byline at the start or end of their blog posts. It will show up as “This blog post was sponsored by (Your Business Here).”

The readers will see you as supporting the blog, instead of trying to take advantage of it like other advertising.

Since there are a ton of blogs of every size and niche, you will have no problem finding a blog you can sponsor at an affordable rate.

You can get going with this method for little money.

Sponsor An Email Newsletter

The difference between sponsoring an email newsletter and paying for an email drop is that you’re not the main focus. You’re paying to get mentioned within an email, but you are content isn’t the main focus of the email.

A good example of a newsletter you can sponsor right now is NoiseTrade’s emails.

NoiseTrade is a digital distribution platform. Anyone can upload their music or eBook for others to download. In order for someone to download your content they have to give you their email address.

What makes NoiseTrade stand out is they have an email list of more than 1.5 million subscribers. They routinely send out emails featuring downloadable new music and eBooks.

Anyone that uploads media to NoiseTrade can then buy a sponsorship spot in their emails.

Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation was able to get 455 subscribers from NoiseTrade’s email newsletter. It only cost him $150 for a secondary sponsorship spot.

Sponsor A Youtube Channel

When’s the last time you decided to watch a full Youtube ad, instead of just skipping it after 5 seconds?

I’m going to guess never.

YouTube ads can also take a ton of time and energy to create.

That’s why, instead of buying ads, it’s better to take advantage of YouTube’s massive amount of traffic by sponsoring a YouTube Channel.

Like a podcast sponsorship, the channel’s creator or host will talk about your service as if they are endorsing you, instead of it being a straight advertisement.

In a way, you’re leveraging the trust and respect that the channel’s host has already worked hard to earn.

Pay For A Native Ad

“There is no need for advertisements to look like advertisements. If you make them look like editorial pages, you will attract about 50 per cent more readers.” – David Ogilvy

People hate when they think they are being sold to. The more you can make your sales pitch appear as content, the more willing people will be to read it.

That’s where native ads come in. They are content and blog posts that you pay to appear on other people’s websites.

These work so well because they look and appear to be regular content that the reader clicks on all the time. Since the reader does not think it is an ad, they are more accepting of the information you are giving them.

This is a good way to show potential clients your knowledge and passion for your craft while their guard is down.

You can talk about a common problem that many businesses have and explain how good copywriting can fix those problems.

After that, you just have to insert your services to the content in a way that feels like a natural transition.

Pay For An Email Drop

Every marketing guru and marketing blog will tell you over and over again the importance of building an email list.

It doesn’t matter what type of business or service you have, “start building a list.”

This is great and all, but these gurus often don’t take into account how difficult and time consuming list building can be. If you’re a freelance copywriter, you need a way to start getting clients fast.

In this case, you should do the next best thing. You should send an email out to someone else’s list.

This is an easy way to leverage someone’s subscribers, get your business in front of a ton of eyeballs, and start building your own list all with one email.

Avoid going for the hard offer right away.

Email drops work best if you send them to your own squeeze page and try to get them on your auto responder. This way you can teach your subscriber’s about your services and then sell them down the line.

Target Decision Makers With FB Ads

The purpose of most online advertising is to get the attention of as many people as possible. What if you created an ad that was only meant to be seen by a single person?

Using Facebook’s wide range of targeting options, Brian was able to create ads that were only seen by his roommate because they were so specific.

The ads he created were so targeted Brian’s roommate thought Facebook was ease dropping on his conversations.

While you might not want to prank anyone, you can use this same idea to target individuals and businesses you want to work with.

Imagine if an ad felt like it was specifically for you. You wouldn’t be able to NOT click it. Then, you would need to find out who would go through all the trouble to get your attention.

Google PPC Ads W/ Marketing Keywords

Where is the first place people go if they want to find a way to solve their problems?

Google, of course.

So, if you want to get the attention of businesses and decision makers that need copywriting done, you should be trying everything you can to get on Google.

It can take months or even years to see the results of SEO. You can get on the first page of Google in a day using their ad platform, AdWords. If your bid is high enough, your ad will even beat out the organic results.

The best thing about using AdWords is that the traffic is highly targeted.

Unlike other forms of advertising, you’re ad isn’t an interruption. People are looking for services like yours on Google and they expect to see your ads.

Bing PPC Ads

The one drawback of relying on Google for traffic is that they can be difficult to work with.

Google gets to push its weight around because everyone wants to leverage their traffic. This mean they can set the prices and the limitations however they feel.

When it comes to AdWords, Google has a ton of rules on what they do and don’t allow.

That’s where Bing comes in.

Bing doesn’t have the same traffic volume as Google. They make up for it with cheaper clicks that are 33.5% cheaper than AdWords.

Bing is also less strict on how you are able to use their platform.

Drive Leads With FB Ads

Facebook is the social media king. Facebook also happens to have one the best ad platforms around for service and web based businesses.

Facebook ads have become an extremely popular way to funnel traffic to a webinar, squeeze page, or web content.

The reason for this is because Facebook ads have the best targeting options.

Copywriters like you and I can get our ads in front of any business imaginable.

Anyone can get started with a small budget. You can check out this guide in which 50 dollars was spent to collect 12 business leads using FB ads.

Best of all, your ad can appear as a sponsor in a potential clients’ newsfeed. They look like all the other updates they normally see.

Run Native Ads On Sites Like Taboola

Have you seen a section at the end of an article titled “Recommended Stories” or “You May Also Like?”

Everyone has come across these, but not everyone is aware that these are the new secret weapons of direct response and lead generation companies.

Online consumers have been getting smarter. Many digital ad platforms have been losing their effectiveness because of it.

Big companies have been turning to content discovery networks like Taboola as an answer.

These ads appear as blog content under blog articles on websites that people already trust. That’s why these types of ads are so effective.

Retargeting Ads

In sales, it is said that it take 7 touches or contacts to sell the average person.

With digital ads, you only get one shot at selling someone. They either buy your products or sign up to your email list. If they don’t, they are gone, right? Not if you are running retargeting ads.

Retargeting ads work so well because you are advertising to people who have already shown an interest in you.

With these ads you can dramatically improve the cost and closing rate of your digital advertising campaigns.

These are not difficult to set up either. Facebook ads, Google AdWords, and Bing Ads all have retargeting options.

So, if you are already using these ad platforms to market your copywriting services, there is no reason you shouldn’t be using retargeting ads.

Create Reddit Ads

As I said before, Reddit users are smart. They are also notoriously hard to sell to.

Many big businesses have had a tough time making Reddit ads work. That’s why it is a great opportunity for marketing your freelance copywriting service.

If you can make Reddit ads work, then you will have a massive traffic source at your fingertips that most businesses can’t figure out.

You only need $5 to get started and Reddit ads are cheaper than Google AdWords and Facebook ads.

Reddit ads are also unique because you can talk back and forth with potential clients within the ad.

Check out Ryan Luedecke’s guide to find out how you can start using Reddit ads for your business.

Answer Question On Quora W/ CTA

Quora is a community-based question and answer site. Users ask questions and give answers. Other users can then upvote the answers they like the most.

There are many users asking questions about copy, advertising, and digital marketing. By writing well, thought-out answers, you can show off your knowledge and position yourself as an expert.

Quora has a search function that finds relevant question quickly.

You can get loads of traffic by putting a link to your website or content in your answers.

Blogger Imran Esmail uses Quora for traffic generation. His answers on Quora have received over 1 million views in a 6 month span.

Imagine what it could do for your freelance career if you could get a million people to view your content.

Use Twitter Search

One of the simplest ways to find new freelance copywriting clients is to simply find companies that are currently hiring.

Every business, company, and decision maker has a Twitter account. Many of these Twitter accounts are used to post company news and job openings.

Twitter’s search function is a good way to find these openings.

By using Twitter’s advanced search functions, you can search by tweets containing a certain word or exact phrases. You can also search by hashtags, location the tweet was made, and by accounts.

You can also use the search function to find businesses that were hiring in the past. From there, you can ask if they are still in need of services.

Network With Potential Clients On Twitter/Facebook

One of the reasons people love social media is because of how easy it is to start a conversation with almost anyone in the world.

While many use Twitter and Facebook to follow and talk to celebrities, you can also use social media to get the attention of individuals that may be interested in working with you.

With a mail campaign or cold calling it’s easy for a gatekeeper to block your message. Most people don’t have a third party using their social media account, so you can bet on the target seeing your message.

Social media is usually a friendlier and less stressful place to make a first impression.

Using things like Facebook groups and Twitter search, it’s not hard to find like-minded people that you can potential work with.

Posting Repurposed Content

Do you want to take advantage of social media and video marketing, but don’t have enough time to come up with brand new content?

A simple way to get more traffic to your website is to repurpose content you have already created.

Older blog posts about the same subject can be packaged together into an eBook.

You can create YouTube videos and podcasts based around written content. You can hire a voice actor on Fiverr if you don’t feel comfortable doing this or don’t have the time.

You can then take this material and share it on social media and appropriate online marketing groups.

If you already have the content, there is no reason not to get as much traffic and use out of it as you can.

Start A FB Group

Using social media to search out new clients can be fruitful, but it’s always better to find a way for them to come to you.

By starting a Facebook group, you are creating a base camp where like-minded people can gather and you can share your knowledge with individuals you know are interested.

There more you are able to grow your group or page the more it is a reflection of you. You will not only be seen as an expert, but also as a person of influence.

Being able to build a group of fans is proof that you know what you’re talking about when it comes to persuasion.

Once you have built a following, people will gladly pay for your services. Writers are a dime a dozen, how often do you get to work with a proven leader?

Cold Walk Into Local Businesses

Sometimes, you just have to get out from behind the computer and start meeting potential clients face to face.

This means walking into local businesses and pitching your services.

People can simply not respond to your messages online. People can throw your mail away. With cold walking, someone has to hear your message, look you in the eye, and tell you no.

If you live in a populated town or city, you can talk to dozens of local businesses in a single day.

Anyone can do this because it doesn’t take any technical skills whatsoever. You just need the guts to get out there and talk with potential clients.

Cold Calling Businesses

In the age of digital advertising, email marketing and SEO, cold calling still works.

In fact, cold calling’s nickname is “dialing for dollars.”

It works because it’s not about fancy tactics. The only thing that matters is to keep making phone calls, one after another, until you find a business that needs your services.

Cold calling is about using the law of averages to your advantage.

Let’s say you find that it takes you on average 4 phone calls to reach a decision maker. From there, you find out you need to talk to 5 decision makers to land an appointment. So, according to your averages, you need to make 20 phone calls before someone agrees to meet with you or have a longer conversation with you.

You find, from there, that it takes 5 appointments to land one client.

If you need to find a new client fast, using cold calling and the law of averages, you are never more than 100 cold calls away from a payday.

It’s not the most attractive tactic, but people just starting out can get 50 to 100 calls done in a day.

Cold Contact Businesses Running PPC Ads

When you are trying to find clients for your freelance copywriting services, there are two qualities you have to look for.

One, the potential client has to understand the importance of advertising and what copywriting can do to improve their advertising.

Two, they have to have a budget big enough to pay you and run your ads.

If a business is paying for AdWords and Bing Ads, there’s a good chance they meet both criteria. These businesses can be an ideal client.

Find websites and businesses that have ads or a landing page that can be improved. Then, contact them and show them how good copywriting can improve their PPC efforts even more.

Call People Who Put Ads In Newspapers

If a business has the money to advertise in a national or city newspaper, then they have a large marketing budget and a desire to grow.

Anyone can run PPC or social media ads. You only need $5 to start a Facebook ads campaign. By comparison a quarter sized ad in The Washington Post costs about $41,000.

So, if you come across a bad newspaper ad, it can be a good opportunity to contact the business and show them how they are wasting money.

Call People Who Send You Direct Mail

One piece of advice that Gary Halbert gave out in The Boron Letters is “get yourself on as many mail order lists as possible.”

His reasoning: So you can better study the market.

Another good reason is companies that are already sending out direct mail pieces have the potential to become your clients.

Some larger businesses often run newspaper ads for branding or general public awareness. If a company is paying money for direct mail, they are looking for results.

If it’s a larger company that sends out a ton of mail, you should contact them because they may need more copywriters.

If it’s a small business that is sending them out, you can offer to help improve their copy and conversion rate.

Direct Message Potential Clients On LinkedIn

Normally, people use social media sites to post their vacation photos and share grumpy cat memes.

Even though social media can be a great way to get clients, most people are not on Facebook or Twitter to do business.

That’s where LinkedIn comes in. LinkedIn is a social media site to network and make professional connections.

LinkedIn is a great way to start making cold contacts.

If someone makes a LinkedIn profile, then it means that they want others to see their profile. It also means they are open to professional communication.

Direct Message Potential Clients On Snapchat

With Snapchat you can send potential clients personalized video pitches.

During a phone call you can only hear a voice. With an email you can only read their written message. You’re not getting a full scene of who you’re working with.

People want to work with someone that they like and trust. Snapchat video allows potential clients to get a more personable first impression of you. Plus, there is so little competition on Snapchat that you’ll stand out with ease.

Direct Message Potential Clients On Facebook

Someone might not have the time to manage a LinkedIn or Snapchat account for their business.

You can guarantee, though, that they are going to be on Facebook.

The first thing most individuals do in the morning is check their Facebook account. They do this even before they check their email or grab their morning coffee.

Unlike cold calling and cold walking, there isn’t a receptionist you have to get through.

Best of all, people use their real names on Facebook. No handles or usernames. So, the decision makers you are looking for are easy to find.

All these reason make Facebook one of the better social media site for cold contact.

Direct Message Potential Clients on Instagram

Instagram user engagement is much higher than Facebook and Twitter according to a study done by TrackMaven.

That’s a good enough reason alone to start using Instagram to generate leads.

Direct messaging works well on Instagram because your profile content is nothing but pictures and videos. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

You can break the ice of a cold contact by following anyone you want to message.

After getting your message, a potential client can go over to your account and quickly judge you by the pictures you post. No long blog posts or samples they have to look through.

Contact Business Owners Who Do Ads On Social Media

Not every business has money for newspaper and direct mail campaigns.

There are many bloggers, ecommerce stores, small and medium size businesses that don’t advertise with traditional advertising.

If they are advertising with social media, they most likely understand the importance of email marketing and content creation. So, you can sell them other services if you can’t help them with their social media ads.

Because almost every business is running these types of ads, there is a never-ending amount of potential clients showing up on your feed.

Contact Successful Kickstarter Projects

Kickstarter is the “world’s largest funding platform for creative projects.”

In other words, it’s literally a catalog of potential clients with actual REAL sales data. You don’t have to guess a thing. You know how much revenue a product made and if people actually wanted it.

This is perfect because you now know exactly who can afford you, who is selling proven products, and you can work with people who are going to want to keep you for years as their business grows.

This is one of the least used tactics by freelance copywriters.

Cold Contact Event Attendees

The type of entrepreneurs and business owners that attend conferences will, most of the time, be a good fit for your copywriting services.

Think about it, individuals that attend these events are passionate about what they do and they want to keep up-to-date on the latest changes in the industry.

On top of that, they want to get some new knowledge that they can then use to improve their businesses.

If you don’t have the time or money to attend these events, you can do the next best thing and cold contact attendees. You can find attendees by searching out hashtags and social media accounts attracted to the events.

For example, MozCon is a three day marketing conference focusing on SEO, content marketing, CRO, and brand development.

MozCon 2017 is happening in July. Right now, it’s February and people that plan on attending the event are already active on Twitter using the hashtag #mozcon to talk about their excitement for it.

You can search through Twitter users using this hashtag and find one that seems like they could be a potential client. From there, you can send a cold message to introduce yourself.

Be A Podcast Guest W/ Pitch At End

The popularity of podcasts is growing year after year.

Appearing as a guest on a podcast is an easy way to make yourself look like an expert as well as a knowledgeable leader. It’s also excellent for advertising your freelance copywriting business as well.

Bestselling author Taylor Pearson used Podcasting to sell his first book. His book sales went up by almost 500% after being a guest on a single podcast.

With numbers like that, you don’t have to be a guest on too many podcasts to get a few new clients.

Like blogging, there are many small podcasts you can start guesting on. You can leverage your appearance on those to get featured on bigger Podcasts.

Promote A Free Webinar

Countless businesses are using them because they work in turning curious people into clients and customers.

A webinar is a great way to teach potential clients, overcome their fears and objectives, and sell them on your services.

Webinars have all the benefits of a live event, but anyone in the world can come sit in your classroom.

After the webinar is done, you can use the replay as a lead magnet. You can also repurpose the recording for YouTube or a Podcast.

Email Your Own List

The biggest reason why freelance copywriter’s have a hard time getting clients is that they just aren’t trusted or top of mind.

The simplest way to fix this problem is to email your own list.

By definition, these are people who raised their hands and said “yes” when they decided to opt-in to your list. That alone means there was some kind of value and trust exchange.

The real power is when you educate them though.

You can educate them on all of their problems and conveniently let them know you can solve it for them.

The best part?

You can do it at many times as you want.

This will build your brand, warm them up, keep you top of mind, build trust, and will make you the only clear choice when they need to hire a copywriter.

This email list of subscribers, when targeted and well nurtured, can be the easiest way to get copywriting clients. In fact, it’s one of the top ways to get clients.

Be The “Expert Copywriter” In A FB/Slack community

If you have spent any time on an online forum or community, there are always a few members that are well respected.

Everyone reads and likes their posts. If you ask a question about a certain topic, everyone will point you towards these few members. They almost become leaders of that particular online tribe.

A good way to get new clients coming to you is to become “the copywriting expert” in an online community.

You can do this by posting great content, seeking out and answering questions about copywriting, and generally just being a helpful person.

This strategy won’t get you new copywriting clients tomorrow. It will pay off in the long haul when a whole community looks up to you and recommends you every chance they get.

Start A Copywriting Blog

Blogging is like the Swiss army knife of marketing tools.

By starting a copywriting blog, you have a place that you can write and publish content.

With this, you can display your knowledge about copywriting by writing guides, tutorials, prediction pieces and more. You can also publish case studies to show off your past successes.

With a blog, you have a home base where you can point traffic from all your other efforts. From there, you can get fans, captures subscribers, and sell your services

A well designed blog, with great content, that gets traffic can be used as a portfolio piece to impress potential customers.

The biggest benefit of a blog is that it is yours.

It doesn’t matter how many members are in your Facebook group or how many YouTube subscribers you have. Their rules can change. They can change their algorithm. They can shut you down any time they want.

Start A Blog About Marketing A Type Of Business

There are many potential clients out there in the real world that are not business or tech savvy.

They don’t give a crap about how to write a proper headline or other topics you might cover in your content. They have been successful for years without even meeting a copywriter or even knowing why they would need one.

For example, an electrician needing work isn’t going to do a Google search on “how to improve my copywriting skills.” He’s going to type in key phrases like “how to make more money as an electrician.”

That’s why it can be useful to start a blog to intersect these types of potential clients. An electrician won’t hire you to “write copy”, but he will hire you if you can bring him money-making electrical job leads.

Pat Flynn has made a blog that is a good example of this. His site is called foodtruckr.com. The site teaches people that own a food truck about everything from advertising to how to finance a food truck.

Publish Content On LinkedIn Publisher

The one drawback of starting your own blog is that it can take while for the wheels to start moving. It takes a lot of work to come up with a good design, build backlinks, and get traffic flowing.

With the LinkedIn Publisher, you can attract potential customers with your content fast and not have to do all the extra work.

Any content you publish on LinkedIn is searchable. So, any potential clients that are interesting in copywriting will be able to find you.

There’s also a chance your content can get featured on LinkedIn’s newsreader, Pulse. If that happens, you can expect huge amounts of traffic to come your way.

One of Wendy McClelland’s posts was featured. The result was over 10,000 new views, thousands of social shares, and multiple radio interviews.

Results like that could skyrocket your copywriting career.

Set Up A Giveaway To Generate Leads

Do you want thousands of new email subscribers or social media fans? Then start enticing people with giveaways.

Marina De Giovanni launched a fashion blog called Not a Model. In the first 6 weeks she was able to build an email list of 17,800 people. She managed to do it with nothing but Facebook ads and a $300 giveaway.

The one drawback of using giveaways is they attract people that just want free stuff. Not necessarily people that would make good paying clients.

Still, a big list of thousands of people can help you get more traffic and social shares to your blog. Maybe down the line one of these freebie seekers will share your content with a future client.

Publish Content On Medium

Medium is a blogging platform that was created by a co-founder of Twitter.

What makes Medium unique is their algorithm is focused on helping content reach new audiences. Their focus is about pushing forward good ideas and good content. Not just about authors with huge followings.

Medium has become known as a place that big news sites use to find content and writers.

Do you want your copywriting content to be syndicated on sites like Huffington Post and BusinessInsider? If so, it makes sense to start publishing content on Medium.

Start A Podcast Interview Series

There have been Podcasts that I didn’t care about, but kept listening to because of all the great guests they bring on. In time, I have come to be a fan of the host too.

Coming up with ideas for a new episode every week (or day) can be a challenge. By bringing on guests, you have leverage with their name, audience, and knowledge to build your podcast following and reputation.

Your guests do all the heavy lifting. Your job is to find them and be able to have an entertaining conversation.

Podcasts become easier to produce when you bring in a guest because you are always talking to new people. You’re not just talking into a mic for hours.

These interviews can then be turned into blog posts or even YouTube videos like “20 experts talk about x.”

Publish A Kindle Book

Publishing a physical book is awesome for positioning yourself as an expert and an authority. Although, buying and shipping out a physical book to everyone you want as a client can become costly.

With Kindle direct publishing you can do the next best thing.

What’s great is that potential clients can see your eBook on display in a massive and respected brand like Amazon.

The coolest part is your eBook can be found within the Kindle store next to top authors.

How cool would it be if a client found out about you because they saw your eBook after searching for Dan Kennedy or Jeff Walker?

Host A Conference

Conferences have the potential to get many like-minded people together in person.

Successfully hosting a live conference could mean massive growth for your brand and the amount of people that want to hire you.

Forget about cold contacting decision makers. Imagine where your career could go if you got your name associated with top thought leaders and CEO’s.

That’s what Sam Parr did when he created Hustle Con.

Sam saw that there was a lack of cool events for business-minded people that were not super techy. The first Hustle Con was two months later in June of 2014. He and his team were able to sell 350 tickets in 7 weeks.

Start A Side Business That Proves Your Skills

You want to know a secret that most freelance copywriters will never tell anyone about themselves?

They have never sold anything to anybody – besides their copywriting services that is.

When you are starting your freelance career, how are you going to convince people of the effectiveness of copywriting when you yourself don’t know if it really works?

The best display of your skills is to walk the walk and start a side business – forget about customer testimonials.

If you can grow a business by implementing the things you preach, you will have the ultimate portfolio piece.

Start A Side Project That Attracts Potential Clients

Besides being able to sell, being able to generate traffic is the most important skill you can develop.

Most copywriters have never had a popular website. Their blog posts get barley any shares or comments.

Starting a side project that pulls in an audience is a unique way to show how talented you are to potential copywriting clients.

If you can prove you know how to grow an audience and make something viral, then you can charge much more money for your work.

Glen at the blog Viperchill has a huge post all about starting a side project to grow your main business.

One of the examples Glen uses in his post is how a digital marketing agency was able to generate 150,000 views per month to an online work timer that they had created.

Use Lead Magnets To Build An Email List & Get Leads

If you’re going to take the time to set up a blog based around your services, there is absolutely no reason you shouldn’t be collecting emails.

You can quickly start getting potential clients on to your list by offering a free download.

This download can be an eBook, webinar replay, or even an app.

After that, you can take it a step further by using lead magnets to separate freebie seekers from actual leads. This is huge because this segments potential clients from the rest, allowing you to send targeted messages. It also reduces the amount of people you need to sell your services too because you know who’s actually interested or not.

If you want to get a decision maker to read every word in one of your blog posts, then write it about their business.

This is an easy strategy because every business makes mistakes. So, these types of blog posts can be written about a potential client you want to work with.

All you have to do is write a blog post showing off all the major errors, explain why these errors need to be fix, and how to fix them.

What you’re doing is bringing awareness to their actual problems. Do it right and you will have given even complete strangers a real reason to hire you. If you know their problems, show them solutions, and then have a small pitch that you can do it for them, you’re set.

Write A “Common Mistakes” Article For Businesses In Your Niche

Remember earlier, how I said not every potential client knows or cares about “copywriting?”

Writing blog posts about common mistakes a certain niche makes with their marketing is another good way to get the attention of these types of people.

Let’s say you are writing a blog post about mistakes that accountants make. You want an accountant to say to themselves while reading the article, “Crap, that’s me.”

After that, they would feel compelled to fix issues they never realized they had.

This is a scalable version of doing the same, but for a certain business. It’s less targeted, so you’ll have to have it seem by a lot more businesses for results.

The great part though is that you’re still feeding them the need for your services. Even if you give them the solution, good clients will still want you to do it for them.

Write A Case Study About Successful Ad/Marketing Campaigns

It’s easy to point out all the things a business does wrong. It’s also just as easy to point out why a business has become successful.

With these types of blog posts, you basically want to say: “Hey look at how much success these businesses have had using good advertising and copywriting!”

The great thing about this type of content though is that it’s aspirational. If I’m selling workout plans, I’m going to look up to companies like Beachbody and Men’s Health. I’m going to want to know the secret to their success so I can then replicate it for my business.

You can then want to relate that point back to your copywriting services to do all that work for them.

It’s an easy sell.

Check out this step-by-step guide from Quicksprout on how you can start generating clients with case studies.

Write Free Copy With Byline That Says “Copy written by NAME”

You want to know a secret “growth hack” that’s helped software companies generate millions in sales and you can use to get copywriting clients?

SaaS companies are known to put their logo at the bottom of the free version of their products.

Landing page created by X, design created by X, popup created by X…etc

Why not do the same for your services?

You can offer copywriting services for a business owner who serves other business owners. In exchange for free work, you can “growth hack” by putting a “Copy written by” byline at the end of it.

It’s almost like a guest post with a byline, but it’s an actual demonstration of your copy.

Have your byline on enough high traffic sites and you’ll have clients coming to you instead of the other way around.

Improve Landing Page/Pop Up Conversion Rates

As a copywriter, you want to improve your landing pages and pop ups because it leads to more business.

Here, you’re either trying to get a subscriber or lead.

By improving your conversion rates, you get more of them. Pretty simple. It’s literally a numbers game and with your skills as a copywriter, you are well equipped to make it happen relatively fast.

This makes it one of your low hanging fruits.

It also doubles as proof for your services. If you can get great results for yourself, you can let potential clients know about your numbers.

It’s one of those “kill 2 birds with 1 stone” situations.

Improve Email Conversion Rates

So you came up with a killer lead gen that attracted thousands of subscribers to your email list.

Time to pat yourself on the back, take a vacation, and day dream about all the new clients you are about to have, right? Not so fast.

You might have got them on your list, but now you have to actually get those subscribers to open your emails and read your content. That means improving your subscriber to client conversion rates.

Just because they are on your list doesn’t mean they will hire you on the spot.

Building an email list can also be challenging. Not all copywriter’s are that great in building huge email lists. However, with your skills as a copywriter, you have the ability to get the most out of a small list.

Use this to your advantage.

Improve Sales Call Conversion Rates

The majority of your actual closed sales will come from getting on the phone with potential clients.

Ironically, this is a trouble spot for my copywriters.

If you want clients though, you need to fix this.

By doing so, that means you won’t need to spend nearly as much time prospecting, educating subscribers, writing content, or spend ad money.

The higher your conversion rate, the less people you need to talk to. Simple.

As a helpful aside, a trick of sales people and professional cold callers is to stand up while talking.

It’s hard to get excited while sitting down, and the last thing you want to do is bore anyone. By standing up you can put some passion and energy behind your words.

Improve Subscribers To Leads Conversion Rates

Just because someone has signed up for your email list doesn’t mean they are necessarily interested in hiring you. You still have to get your email subscribers to say, in some way, “I’m interesting in your copywriting services and I want to work with you.”

You can do this by segmenting your email list using a MOFU offer. These types of offers are meant to separate freebie seekers from leads. They are also meant to introduce subscribers to yourself and your services.

Finally, these types of offers are meant to lead subscribers into the next step of your funnel which would be something like a skype chat or phone appointment.

For example, your subscribers signed up for your list because of an eBook you offered called, “How eCommerce Stores Can Improve Their Product Descriptions to Get More Sales.”

Your MOFU offer would then be a webinar in which you ask your email subscribers to sign up for. In the webinar, you would show case studies on how your copy improved sales for eCommerce stores you have worked with.

At the end of the webinar, you would offer a free consultation.

By improving this conversion rate, you will get more leads and have a bigger pool of people ready to hire you.

Improve PPC Ad Conversion Rates

Since there is so much competition, PPC ad platforms can be very expensive.

For example, the suggested bid of Google Adwords for the term “how to hire a copywriter” is $5.92 per click. The term “copywriter for hire” is $10.06 per click.

These types of keywords can start to drain your bank account like a vampire if you don’t have a good conversation rate.

First of all, testing and tracking is king when it comes to online advertisements. Kissmetrics says that you can improve your conversion rates just by properly tracking your campaigns.

Two important factors in your PPC ads are the keywords that you are targeting and how similar your ad copy is to what the person was originally searching for.

Finally, you want to make sure you have a budget for the long haul. You’re not going to set up the perfect campaign on the first go. Also, for ten dollars per click you’re not going to get too many clients unless you have large budget to spend on clicks.

Improve Social Ad Conversion Rates

While PPC ads are great for finding businesses that are already in a buyer mind frame, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be using social media ads as well.

Social media ads are useful for building awareness. They also do a good job of getting the attention of potential clients that may need a copywriter, but might not realize it. This is actually where the majority of business owners are, giving you the opportunity to be one of the first copywriters to help them.

And by improving your conversion rates, you effectively reduce the amount you spend and/or you get better clients who are worth more to you.

This is huge.

So if you’re doing social ads, make this a priority.

Media buying is all about optimization.

Improve Direct Mail Conversion Rates

Legendary copywriter Gary Halbert had a famous lecture about how people go through their mail. Gary said that people sort their mail into an A pile and a B pile.

The A pile was for urgent and personal mail; anything that looks like it may come from a friend or a trust source. People usually people open up this kind of mail immediately.

They put anything that looks like an advertisement into a B pile. This type of mail is thrown out; sometimes even during the sorting process.

So, if you want potential clients to open and read your direct mail, you need to make it look like it’s coming from a friend.

The easiest way to improve the open rate of any mail piece is to hand write the address and use a stamp. This works even better now than in Gary’s time because no one sends hand written letters anymore.

With any direct mail campaign, you need to do a follow-up call to see if your letter was received and opened. People are busy, do not assume that every interested person is going to immediately call you after getting your mail.

Improve Sponsorship Conversion Rates

When it comes down to it, any kind of sponsorship is an advertisement.

Like any other advertisement, sponsorships can be split tested and improved upon.

With podcast sponsorships, you can test recording an advertisement versus the host talking about your services. You can also test having the host talk about your product once versus twice in the same podcast.

By sponsoring an email newsletter, you can test placement within the email. You can also test a text ad versus an image ad.

This is of course dependent on the blogs and podcasts you sponsor. Some have set ad placements and styles. If that’s the case, you can always test different blogs and podcasts against each other.

Improve Cold Emailing Conversion Rates

Cold email is the first method most new copywriters go to for attaining new clients. Unfortunately, most of their emails end up in the Spam or Trash folder.

The biggest mistake made here is they really are just sending out spam.

Their emails are just the same commercial message sent to thousands of people. There’s no attempt at personalizing each email or trying to make a connection with the receiver.

Instead of trying to get your message in as many inboxes as possible, aim to create highly personalized emails. Instead of trying to use cold emails to sell your services, try using it to build relationships.

If you need inspiration, take a look at these 26 cold email examples. One example is how a web consultant was able to land a new client worth $15k.

Improve Cold Calling Conversion Rates

With cold calling, 100 to 300 phone calls is the only thing that’s separating you from getting a new client.

Cold calling is a numbers game. To get better success from it you need to improve your averages. There are a few areas you can improve on to start receiving more clients from less calls.

First, make sure you are creating a call list of businesses that are most likely to need your services.

You don’t want to just pull names out of a phone book. Similar to how your online ads need to be highly targeted, you need to have a targeted call list. You can use a website like manta.com to find all the business in a certain niche.

You can also purchase a cold calling list of businesses who have purchased B2B products in the past.

You can greatly improve your rates if you have some kind of common ground with the people you are calling. For example, if you are a member of your local chamber of commerce, it will be easier to talk to other members than complete strangers.

Author Mahan Khalsa says that you can instantly improve your cold calling rate by 40% if you call with a referral.

Improve Cold Walking Conversion Rates

Cold calling is only over the phone, but cold walking you are meeting face to face. That means you have to have good posture, a great smile, and be dressed for the occasion.

Imagine someone walking into your business wearing a sport t-shirt, shorts, and a cap, then, they try to get you to buy something that’s thousands of dollars. It’s not a good look.

A big hurdle in cold walking is trying to get your message past a gatekeeper. These are receptionists and workers who say they will get your message to the right person, but are basically telling you to leave.

In this case, you should find out the name of the decision maker at each business. What sounds better: “Is the owner/ person that makes advertising decisions here?” or “Hey, do you know if Bob is around today?”

The second introduction of course. It makes it sound like you are a friend or are there on an important matter. You’re not just a sales person.

Improve Cold Messaging On Social Conversion Rates

Social media users don’t log into their accounts expecting to see advertisements and personal inquiries. So, messaging people with a hard sell or an immediate proposition can be off-putting.

You can get a reputation of being a spammer fast by doing this.

With social media, it’s much more effective to build a friendly relationship first. You can start conversations by contacting someone saying you like a piece they shared.

If you are going to be prospecting with social media, you have to make sure your account is in order. That means that the picture and content you share is a good representation of yourself.

No one is going to take your seriously if your account is nothing but memes and click bait articles.

Help Overworked Copywriters/Agencies

Good advertising and marketing can build up your momentum fast. You can quickly get overrun by clients wanting work with you.

You may not be at this point yet, but this is the exact problem many veteran copywriters and ad agencies are facing right now.

In ideal world, these copywriters would want to help every business and client that is interested in working with them. Often times, many potential clients have to be turned down or put on a waiting list.

That’s where you come in. You can quickly find new work for yourself by contacting copywriters and agency’s that may need a hand with their workload.

One setback of doing this is that the copywriters you talk to won’t just hand over their clients to you. So, the work will most likely be ghost writing jobs. Your copywriting business won’t get any of the credit, but at least its paid work.

Email Swaps

Email swap is a go-to list building strategy in the internet marketing world. When done right, you can receive a flood of new subscribers onto your email list.

Imagine having thousands of new subscribers that you can sell your services to in a couple days.

To make an email swap work, you need to find a business with an email list of a similar size and niche as your list. You also need a killer lead magnet to get people interested in you and your services.

Once you do it, you now have a bigger pool of people you can educate and sell your services too.

It’s a great, low-stress way to build an email list if you can find the right people to partner with.

Go To Events/Conferences

Networking online can get you clients, but there’s nothing like shaking someone’s hand and talking face to face.

By putting yourself out there, you can show you’re a true professional. You’re showing you’re not just another stay-at-home mom or college kid trying to sell copy online.

Events allow you to make a personal connection with others that you would never make online.

Freelance writer Carol Tice is able to get one new monthly blogging client every time she goes to a conference. Plus, every client she has received this way has needed work done month after month.

Her strategy is to hand out a glossy colorful post card instead of a boring business card.

Guest Webinars

The challenge of having a big audience is that you need to be constantly feeding them great content. If you don’t, your fans or subscribers will start following someone else without a second thought.

This is why it can be a good idea to network with people who have large audiences and offer to help them out.

By doing a guest webinar, you can put yourself in front of a ton of people that wouldn’t have known you otherwise. You can put your knowledge on display, position yourself as an expert, and generate a bunch of leads for your copywriting business.

This works out for the host because they can keep their audience interested and satisfied with content they didn’t have to create.

If you want to learn more about webinars, check out Neil Patel’s blog post about it. He ran 77 webinars for his company KISSmetrics and generated over 1 million dollars in revenue.

JV With Web Designers

When a business hires a web designer, they usually expect the whole package. They don’t just want a great design. They want a website that’s ready to start getting them leads and customers.

They have to sell their web design services for cheaper because they don’t offer content or copywriting. It’s that or they end up having to spend their own money to hire out for a copywriter.

By partnering with a web designer, you can save them time and aggravation of having to find a writer for every project. You benefit because you can guarantee yourself a steady flow of copywriting leads.

You can also upsell the web designers’ clients on services like writing email campaigns and blogging.

JV With Funnel Builders

Funnel builders work with exactly the same type of clients that a copywriter desires to work with.

The clients they get understand the importance of well optimized webpages.

Like web designers, their clients are expecting the whole package to be complete – copywriting included.

Since much of the success of a funnel depends on good copy, you can take a huge workload off of them by offering to help out.

These types of people are, most of the time, better at the technical stuff. If you can write the copy, they can get back to doing what they are good at.

Plus, with your help the funnel builder has more time to prospect for more high paying clients.

JV With Media Buyers

A media buyer is someone that helps businesses that want to advertise secure ad space online or offline.

They help these businesses pick the ad placements for their budget and products they sell.

Partnering with a media buyer is an awesome opportunity because they work directly with businesses that are most in need of your skills.

Imagine if you partnered with someone that not only helped a business pick out an ad placement, but then recommended that you write the advertisement.

You only need to work with a few of these kinds of clients to start earning a comfortable income as a copywriter.

JV With CRO Experts

Conversion rate optimization experts are the kings of tracking and testing. They help businesses get the most out of their websites and online funnels.

The reason that a CRO expert is brought in is to fix things “leaking” parts of their landing pages. This can include opt-in conversion rates, sales page conversion rates, and checkout page conversion rates.

With that said…

Many of the biggest problem’s CRO experts run into is in the copy because copy is the main factor in those conversion rates.

You can help CRO people who are weak at copy or just have too much work to do all of the copy work themselves.

JV With A Lawyer That Helps Biz Owners

Business lawyers help with legal matters like licenses and permits, hiring employees, writing up buyer-seller agreements, and many other related tasks. These types of lawyers have huge contact lists.

If you’re a business owner and decide to work with a lawyer, then you have to trust them. By following their advice, you are potentially putting your business and livelihood on the line.

So, when a lawyer makes a recommendation, their clients will at least look into it. What if that recommendation was your copywriting services?

That is a huge endorsement, making it an easy sell for you.

In return, you can recommend that lawyer to other clients.

This is a win-win situation.

Get Referrals

Some of your best clients will come as referrals.

It’s also one of the most convenient ways to get clients, period.

Referrals are almost always free, they are already pre-sold on you, and they don’t really take any extra work beyond asking your existing clients if they know anyone who could use your help.

Also, don’t be surprised when they accept your higher rates. At least more than a complete stranger who doesn’t know you yet.

Some copywriter’s run their entire business with just referrals because of this.

Partner With An Incubator

A business incubator is a program that helps startups transition from the idea phase into having a working business.

These types of programs tend to offer office space, legal advice, and mentorship.

Most of these incubators are privately funded, so they have high requirements on who they decide to help.

Forming a partnership with an incubator is much harder than a web designer. If you can pull it off, you can get in on the ground floor some of the top startups.

Startups, more than any other business, need good copy if they are going to succeed. They need to get funding, make the public aware of what they do, and start building distribution partnerships.

These are all things your copywriting services can help with.

Re-activate Old Clients

Not every client that hires you is going to be an ongoing client forever.

Some clients may only need a single piece of copy created. Some clients may have stopped working with you because they thought they could get a copywriter that was better or cheap somewhere else.

Whatever the case may be, just because a client decided to stop working with you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stay in touch.

It’s much harder and more costly to convert a brand new lead than it is to re-activate an old client.

That’s why you should have a system for staying in touch. This could be as simple as emailing old clients every 3 to 6 month. You can simply ask how things are going and remind them that you’re still available, if they ever need you.

Network in your Chamber of Commerce

You should strongly consider joining your local Chamber of Commerce if you want to advertise your copywriting services locally.

A Chamber of Commerce is an association of local businesses that come together for the good of the community.

Many chambers have weekly and monthly meet-ups. This is a great way to meet and network with all the local businesses in your town.

This is a much friendlier and warmer way to find local clients of JV partner than a method like cold walking.

Do An Affiliate Deal With Biz Owners That Sell Biz Products

When you are buying a car, the car dealership will recommend an insurance agency to you. They can also recommend things like a good mechanic and other services or products related to buying a car.

When you buy a house, your real estate agent can recommend a good handyman, lawn maintenance company, and other businesses that are related to owning a house.

The point is you can set yourself up with a ton of new clients if you can form a relationship like this.

If there’s a business owner who sells courses on how to improve your email marketing, then he’s a potential JV partner. He can sell your services to his list in exchange for commission, just like any regular affiliate deal.

Free Work In Exchange For Email Newsletter Mentions

I have talked about how email marketing is an essential way generate leads, but it’s not always practical for new copywriters.

If you’re just getting started, you’re not going to have a big enough email list to do any email swaps. You also might not have the money to pay for a solo ad to someone’s list.

You still have another option. You can offer free copywriting work in exchange for advertising your service to their email subscribers.

This can be a win-win for both of you. They don’t have to pay for the work. You get leverage with their huge audience.

Offer To Beat A Control In An A/B Test, Get Paid If You Win

The idea is you contact a business and offer to write a sales letter that can bring in more sales than their control.

If you write a sales letter that beats their control in a split test, the business has to pay you for the work.

If your work doesn’t beat the control, they pay you nothing.

This is an absolute win-win for the business you offer this to.

Any business would love for you to write something that beats their best sales letter.

It means more money for them on the same amount of traffic. If it doesn’t work out, it isn’t a loss to them because they didn’t have to pay you for the attempt.

Improve Clickbank Product Conversions For Vendor

There is no better way to build up a good reputation than “walking the walk.”

This mean proving your copy can sell products. You can do this by becoming an affiliate for Clickbank products.

Most of the products are sold with long form sales letters to relatively cold traffic.

The success of a ClickBank product relies on the strength of the sales copy and how many affiliates are working to sell the product. So, if there is one group that understands the value of good copy, it’s ClickBank vendors.

If you can create landing pages and emails that sell a ton of certain products, the vendor that owns the product is sure to want to work with you.

Of course you might be making so much money in commission that you’d rather stay on as an affiliate.

Create Dummy Landing Pages For Potential Clients

Many freelance copywriters make the mistake of sending out a particular set of samples to every business they want to work with.

This might be good for a business that already knows what a good copywriter can do for them.

The problem is most lawyers and plumbers are not going to know what a sales letter or a landing page is. They are not going to hire you to write something they don’t even understand.

So, if you want to get hired by doctors, create a lead capture page for medical services. It has to be something they can actually see on their phones and web browsers.

Potential clients are more likely to hire you if they can experience your work rather than hearing you talk about it.

Offer A Free Copy Critique

When you take your car to a mechanic, they will run a diagnostic test before trying to sell you any of their services.

They will come back to you with a detailed list of everything that needs to be repaired and if the repairs are urgent or not. If you trust your mechanic, 9 times out of 10 you will let them go ahead and do the recommended work.

You can take this same idea to get more copywriting clients.

By offering to do a free critique, you are positioning yourself as an experienced copywriter. To be able to point out what’s wrong with a client’s copy, you would have to know how to write good copy.

Copy critiques are good for potential clients because they get a preview of what it’s like to work with you before they have to pay a penny.

Offer A Free CRO Audit

If a business wants more customers from their online advertising and marketing, they typically think they need more traffic.

That’s not always the case – sometimes, they just have to better utilize what they already have.

This is where a conversion rate optimization audit comes in. By doing this kind of audit, you can point out elements of a business’s landing page and website that need to be tweaked and tested. Then, recommend that all tweaks can be done by using your copywriting services.

Many businesses have poor websites. Their sites might be missing key elements. In many cases, their landing pages, sales pages, product descriptions, and offers may need total rewrites.

Many of these corrections that they need will be copywriting based. All those rewrites could become brand new assignments for you if the potential client agrees to the work.

Offer A Free Funnel Audit

A well optimized funnel is a machine that takes individuals that are completely unaware of your services and turns them into paying customers.

A funnel is made up of many different part. Each part of a funnel can have its own offer and lead magnet. These lead magnets all need proper email and lead capture pages written for them.

If any part of a funnel isn’t working as well as it could, it’s like a knot in a garden hose.

Much of a funnel depends on good copywriting. So, a free funnel audit is something every copywriter can offer.

If the businesses follow the advice you lay out in a funnel audit, it could potentially mean you have to rewrite all the ads, emails, landing pages, and offers. That’s a lot of new work.

Plus, if you do your job right, you will end up looking like a hero. A good funnel will make businesses more money – much more than they are paying you for copywriting.

Offer A Free USP Audit

A business’s unique selling proposition is what they stand for. It’s what separates them from all their competitors.

Take a look at the blog Nerd Fitness. There are thousands of weight loss and fitness companies. Most of them are targeted at the body builder, women, and older people.

Nerd Fitness’s USP is that they are aimed at helping “Nerds,” people that are heavily interested in comics and video games. These are the people that usually have the hardest time going to the gym because many of them are introverts or easily intimidated.

A USP audit can help a business stand out from the rest of its competition.

By changing the USP you are changing their ads, website content, and even the products they sell.

This all requires a ton of copywriting work. If a business agrees to go with your suggestions, you could be setting yourself up with months’ worth of new copywriting assignments.

Offer A Free PPC/Social Ads Audit

There are many elements that are effective in online ad campaigns. One of those elements is good copy.

The success of a social media and PPC ad campaign can be highly dependent on the strength of the copy.

On top of that, businesses that use online advertising don’t rely on just one ad. Each campaign can feature dozens of ads that all need their own copy.

With PPC campaigns, they may need a different ad for every keyword that the business is targeting. A single PPC ad campaign could potentially have hundreds of different keywords.

That means, if you can point out the mistakes and improvements that can be made to the ads, you could be setting yourself up to write copy for hundreds of different advertisements.

If the improvements and changes you suggest end up bringing in more sales and leads, the business may consider having you write their ads full-time.